National News

World paid terrorists $105M in ransoms in 3.5 years

by Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

(NEWSER) – In the past three and a half years, terror groups tied to al-Qaeda have raked in an estimated $105 million via ransom, Britain's ambassador to the UN says—and the UN Security Council wants those payments to end. Though countries are already legally banned from making such payments, it's not clear that governments always stick to the rules, the BBC reports. So the 15-member Security Council yesterday unanimously passed a resolution pushing countries to halt the practice, though the New York Times notes the resolution is not enforceable.